Patrick Keiller is back on screen after ten years with Robinson in Ruins, to be premiered in Spain at PdV

In the next edition of Punto de Vista, Patrick Keiller is presenting his latest film, Robinson in Ruins, as part of “La región central / The Central Region”. The movie is a visual essay on the glories of the past in a time of economic collapse. Robinson in Ruins is the long-awaited sequel to London (1994) and Robinson in Space (1997), in which Keiller addressed the economic landscape of the United Kingdom. In Dilapidated Dwelling (2000), he dealt with a similar subject: the state of housing in the country. The film’s screening in Punto de Vista will be its premiere in Spain, after being shown in Venice, London, New York, and Vancouver.

Robinson in Ruins is the journey through the South of England (Oxfordshire and Berkshire) of the eccentric, rebellious scholar Robinson and his old video camera. The voice-over narration warns the audience that Robinson has just been released from the prison in Edgcott, reaching the closest city in search for a place from which to look, believing that “if he looked at it hard enough, he could cause the surface of the city to reveal to him the molecular basis of historical events, and in this way he hoped to see into the future.” Robinson thought he could also communicate with “non-human intelligences” determined to preserve life on Earth. The background to this cinematic essay is populated with current issues like the global economic downturn, the war in Afghanistan, and climate change.

Keiller studied Architecture at University College London. He then joined the Royal College of Art as a postgraduate student. He took his first steps in the arts with a series of installations at the Tate Gallery in the early 1980s. Keiller is also a photographer and essay writer on building dilapidation and the hidden infrastructure constraining everyday life in Great Britain.